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“It’s Risky Theatre, But It’s Worth the Risk”

Published on Nov 21, 2016Cynthia Dyck

Actor Braden Butler on Wild Abandon, speaking with Lauren Allen

Braden Butler plays Steve in Tough Choice Productions’
upcoming Wild Abandon, running in
conjunction with See Bob Run, both by
Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor. We sat down with Braden to get to know him
and the upcoming production.

See Bob Run (featuring
Trillian Reynoldson) and Wild Abandon
(featuring Braden Butler) by Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor, directed by
Tom Ratzlaff, run Nov 23rd-Dec 4th at Paved Arts, 424 20th
Street. November 23rd is a pay what you can preview - tickets
available at the door (cash only). All other tickets can be purchased here: http://ontheboards.ca/events/see-bob-run-and-wild-abandon/

Both plays run at each performance.

What led you to doing
theatre?

I think what led me to do theatre, it’s this very ephemeral
thing, that I couldn’t do anything else. I watched movies and plays as a little
kid and I wanted to tell stories. I would copy the movies, I would put on
little plays for my family on our fireplace that was my stage, I would use my grandmother’s
scarves as my costumes and I would always play the princesses and magical
fairies! So that’s where it started, this innate desire to share something with
people in that format. And when I started performing like real plays that were
not on my fireplace but on a stage, it just validated that desire for me. I was
like “yeah this is exactly what I want to be doing”. And so, from a pretty
young age I was always looking for opportunities, and of course there was
always like community theatre or the Off Broadway Children’s Theatre. So yeah,
there was like, a variety of sub-professional opportunities that I had growing
up, and every new play I did it just inspired more and more love for theatre.
And it’s not just acting, not that I just like acting in general, it’s that I
like theatre specifically. I’m not interested in film, particularly, but I am
interested in all aspects of theatre. From production, to design, to writing,
to acting, to directing, all aspects of it.

What are the
challenges of doing independent theatre in Saskatoon that you’ve come up
against?

I would say that the biggest challenge for me is, I find
that there’s a bit of a lack of opportunity- like if you want to do something
that’s not community theatre, but that you’re not at the place where you can do professional theatre yet, there’s like
a limited amount of opportunity. So I think that finding something to do in
general is a challenge in and of itself. I would say for myself a personal
challenge would be I often question the validity of the production- is it being
done in a professional enough way that people are going to enjoy this and that
sort of thing. So I find that when it’s not professional theatre I question how
real it is, you know what I mean?

What’s the best part
of doing independent theatre in Saskatoon?

The freedom! Not working to like, Fringe for
example we’re always working to a very specific time limit. It’s two weeks
before the show opens and we’re like “okay, we’ve got to shave off all these
minutes somewhere!” And then with these, we just have time for the scenes that
need to breathe, we can let those scenes breathe. It’s the freedom to do
everything we want to do and not have restrictions because it’s our company,
it’s our production, and we make all the decisions ourselves.

Why is this story
important to you?

One thing about Wild Abandon that I am so excited about is
that the character is gay, and it’s just so fucking cool, like it makes me
teary, to play a gay character, I’ve never played a gay character! It is so
fucking cool for me. I go to parties, you know, and I’m the only gay person and
it doesn’t really matter because everyone is accepting, but at the end of the
night all the girls are looking at the guys and all the guys are looking at the
girls and no one’s looking at me and I can’t look at anyone! It’s similar to
that, it’s just that like- being gay isn’t a huge aspect of my life but it’s
big enough that I can really relate to other gay people. I can relate to this
character in a way that I haven’t been able to relate before. As opposed to
hiding my gayness on stage in order to be more believable as this straight person
interested in this woman, I can fully reveal my sexuality on stage and it’s
just so cool.

There’s a lot more that I can relate to about the character
aside from the fact that he is gay, but it’s important to me because, despite
being gay, he could not be gay and it would be the same story. I think that
theatre that involves gay characters revolves around the struggles of being
gay. This is human struggles, with life, and he happens to be gay, and I think
that is an important thing for gay people and non-gay people to see, that the
life of a gay person isn’t all about these specifically homosexual struggles
and so I think it shares an important message that sexuality takes up a big
part of your life, but it’s not everything. And there’s so much more that everyone
can relate to in a gay person despite the fact that they have different sexualities.
I find that important. I would also say that, from the people I’ve talked to, I
think that suicide and mental illnesses associated with it are kind of swept
under the rug and aren’t talked about. In theatre, it’s more of an open space
to talk about those things, but this play deals specifically with a character
who is struggling with whether or not he is going to kill himself. And I think
that’s a really important conversation to have, especially for the young people
who are going to be seeing the show. I think it will be very very relevant to
them and will really open their eyes up to what other people are going through.
Young people are often afraid to talk about these things, especially if they
are in high school and they’re afraid of judgement and that sort of thing. So
to see someone who is close to their age, who they can relate to, talking about
his own struggle with suicide and with isolation and those sorts of themes is
important.

Who in your community
has influenced you the most in regards to theatre?

I’m not sure I can pinpoint a specific person, but the
entire Compass Points [program at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival]
experience was very enriching to me, I learned so much more than I expected to
learn, my eyes were totally opened to what the professional world of theatre
looks like, being in a place where there’s theatre professionals from across
the country working together, sharing ideas, and just getting to be a witness
to those conversations was hugely eye opening for me. I would say my acting
coach [Kristina Hughes] works with me quite a lot and she’s been very
influential on helping me discover finding a sense of presence and being
genuine on stage, that’s been really important to me lately. Also, I would have
to say Tom [Ratzlaff] because he’s given me a lot of opportunity, especially
with Wild Abandon. I’ve worked with him in four fringe shows prior to this, and
he first hired me when I was like 14 or 15 and he’d never worked with me
before, and ever since, I’ve had the opportunity to meet Fringe artists from
across the country when they’re in Saskatoon for our fringe. And then having
worked with me, he just asked me if I wanted to do it because he didn’t want to
do the show with anyone else. So it’s a huge opportunity for me to just have
this show put in front of me and for it to be something that I connected with
so deeply and not just another opportunity to act, all artistic experiences are
great, that sort of thing, but a show that I really felt would be a huge
learning process for me and would challenge me and would be meaningful to my
community and my life. So I would definitely say he has played a pretty big
role in my theatre experience so far.

What are some theatre
memories that stick out for you?

The first time I really cried when I was acting is a big
memory for me because it was one of the first couple of times that I felt I was
absolutely present and in the moment and there was no shadow of mistruth in
what I was performing. It felt very real and I felt like “this is what it’s
like when I’m doing my job”. So that was actually in a rehearsal for Wild
Abandon, there’s a very intense scene that involves animal cruelty and the
character feels a lot of resentment but also a strange sort of attraction to
the event that happened. So that’s a huge memory for me actually because it was
one of the moments where I was like “I know now that I can go there on stage.”
It’s just a matter of developing a method of accessing that more quickly. I
would also say, when I was in grade 5 at my elementary school we did a
production of Grease. I played the little nerd Eugene, and that was my first
show ever, basically. And on my first scene ever, I got a huge laugh and then
they gave me a standing ovation at the end when my character came out for the
bow, and that was a really validating moment for me and it’s always stuck out
to me because although I was so young, it was one of those times where I was
like “I really did my job, I entertained these people, I made them feel
something” That’s what I want to do. So those are two really big memories.

What theatre stories
interest you the most and what stories do you most want to tell?

I would say that I’m really interested in pursuing theatre
in Canada because I feel like I can make the most impact in the community that
I understand. I’m not going to say I understand all of Canada, I’m most
interested in stories that are relevant to Canadians and that are relevant to
my own experiences in life because I think that’s the most effective way for me
to create change in the world. I can do a story about someone, like a play
about a concept I have no prior experience with and I can find a way to connect
that as we all can, you know, but if I can make theatre that’s relevant to me
and relevant to my community, that’s how I can make change in the world. That’s
ultimately what I think a lot of artists want to do, at least speaking for
myself that’s what I would do.

Anything else that
you want to say about Wild Abandon?

It’s risky theatre but it’s worth the risk. The content is
heavy, it’s dark, it will probably confront you with experiences in your own
life, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t have its uplifting or humorous
moments. I think it’s a well-balanced story. Ultimately, it’s about hope and
self-discovery and about finding a way to deal with your own personal
struggles. I think that everyone can relate to Steve, as well as to Bob, the
other character in the other show. That’s something the playwright actually
says in the beginning of the script he has this essay that he published and it
says there’s a little Bob and a little Steve in all of us. I’ve certainly found
that to be true. I’d say take the risk, because you might see some things you
haven’t seen on stage before, there’s some very risky stuff but at the end of
the day it’s real life.

See Bob Run (featuring
Trillian Reynoldson) and Wild Abandon
(featuring Braden Butler) by Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor, directed by
Tom Ratzlaff, run Nov 23rd-Dec 4th at Paved Arts, 424 20th
Street. November 23rd is a pay what you can preview with tickets
only available at the door (cash only). All other tickets can be purchased
here: http://ontheboards.ca/events/see-bob-run-and-wild-abandon/